Manny Pacquiao slated to fight Australian Jeff Horn in July

Manny Pacquiao slated to fight Australian Jeff Horn in July

A deal for Pacquiao to defend his title against Horn had initially been scrapped in favor of a fight against Amir Khan in the UAE in April.

After months of negotiations, Manny Pacquiao and Jeff Horn have agreed to a fight.

Pacquiao will defend his WBO welterweight title againstthe Australianat Brisbane'sSuncorp Stadium on July 2,Horn's promoter, Duco Events, announced Saturday.

WhilePacquiao's promoter, Top Rank, said the deal has yet to be made official, theFilipino is on board for the bout.

"We are extremely close to the deal being finalized, but Manny has signed," Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti told ESPN Saturday.

A deal for Pacquiaoto defend histitle againstHorn had initially been scrapped in favor of a fight againstAmir Khan intheUnited Arab Emirates onApril 23, though the agreement with Khan eventually fell through.

Pacquiao (59-6-2, 38 KOs), 38, last fought on Nov. 5and defeatedJessie Vargas to reclaim thewelterweight title he lost to Flyod Mayweather Jr. in their 2015 megafight.

Horn(16-0-1), 29, had beencampaigningto fight Pacquiao for quite some time and will nowget a chance to make a name for himself.

"Finally this rocky road about announcing this fight is finally over. We can say it's finally happening on July 2," Horn told Australian media outlets."I'd never actually thought Pacquiao would still be around when I was going to get my shot at the world title. I'm still young, still under 30, so I'm ready to take this shot."